Quoting cipango (Reply 2):Arriving at 0705hrs into DXB doesn't give the route much scope for connecting traffic to Europe. Many flight to Europe ex DXB leave between 7am and 8am.

It may not be ideal, but there are still many connecting flights (specifically, to Europe, Africa, and the Middle East) that leave DXB 0805*-1030, although most to Europe are before 9am. The 0930 departure to HND will be fed from a growing number of cities. (* Assuming 45 MCT.)

[Edited 2013-01-28 04:03:17]

"Everyone writing for the Telegraph knows that the way to grab eyeballs is with Ryanair and/or sex."

Is the aircraft used in between US flights? It always seems odd for Emirates to operate these flights when they aren't that long haul. From the hot temperatures in HND during the summer, it makes me wonder if they will change to the A343 or A345 in the summer.

I presume the 77L is due to the product, which is possibly the closest in EK's fleet to the A380 offering. And that choice makes me think that EK is targeting more about the front, than the back of the bus for this route.

The opinions above are solely my own and do not express those of my employers or clients.

I guess we didn't see this coming. This is the first city after London that is serviced to different airports with EK, isn't it? I wonder how long it will take to someone ask for a DXB-EWR since it is such a hassle to get from JFK to the West side of Manhattan

Quoting sw733 (Reply 13):I wonder if they are chasing this market a bit? Not the most direct route, but not the least either - about 700nm longer than going via LAX.

I am sure they do. Most passengers would avoid transiting through the US at all costs if it is only 700 nm longer for such a long flight. Anyway, it will be more important the transit time and cost. Even if you are Japanese and can do it with a ESTA, you will likely go through Dubai with no passport control, TSA or questions.

Quoting TC957 (Reply 19):Indeed yes, as per a previous post Tokyo is the second city after London to see EK in two seperate airports. 380 to NRT and 77L to HND.

Thank you. I'm not surprised EK will see the demand, I am a bit at EK's growth without another new city to Europe or Africa. One disadvantage of a 'high connecting hub' is that seats in must be matched with seats out (to a certain tolerance, of course).

This implies decent premium demand from Tokyo, which surprises me. (My brother contracted to Sony and they flew him Y across the Pacific multiple times per year.) So an A380 plus a 77L is quite a few premium seats. Ok, quite a few Y, but that cabin should be easy for EK to fill.

Quoting cipango (Reply 17):Actually I stand corrected. Always had in my head the European connections all left at the same time.

Easy mistake to make due to how EK advertises their hub. The reality is that gate and runway congestion have forced a broadening of their hub waves. I particularly enjoy this thread on the DXB hub:

Naturally we all defer to HB-IWC's analysis of DXB/EK. Looking at that analysis, this flight arrives HND-DXB at about the mid-point of the 7am to 11am departure wave. (8:20 am onward, as noted actually allows almost 2/3rds of the connections; albeit many do not make sense from a route perspective such as the Americas, SE Asia, and Australia/New Zealand).

Quoting cipango (Reply 17):Although both are classed as NYC airports, they serve very different markets. It almost makes EWR entirely unrelated to JFK.

Exactly. EWR has a pool of separate O&D to many global markets, including India, which EK should capture. There's a reason EWR is the only market from which U.S. carriers can fly nonstop to India and make enough of a profit to keep the flights while ORD, ATL etc. have been axed.